Judith Flanders’s book views the making of “home” from the vantage point of historical anthropology, looking at myths and rituals, marriage practices and the material fashioning of houses as homes. Its sweep is impressive, from the 16th century into the 20th. Her focus is on those countries that have words that distinguish house and home. For Flanders, these are the “home countries” (the Netherlands, North America, Germany, Britain), places that have all, over the centuries, developed a particular attachment to the home as a cosy respite from an aggressive world. This book is about what changed to produce the homely house.

For nearly everyone in the 16th century, the house was a place of work. People made things at home, and surviving was a full-time occupation. Houses were busy places and privacy wasn’t a condition that was valued or even recognised. In one memorable passage, Flanders describes the labour involved in producing a stew; how everyone in the household had various roles to perform in gathering fuel, foraging, hunting, whittling utensils and cooking. Modernisation condensed labour into separate roles. Cooking (and the shopping that went with it) was now only done by women. Men were breadwinners, but not bread makers.

The Making of Home is filled with bold arguments and memorable details. Flanders has a knack of providing statistics that register the changes taking place: for instance, she tells us that “in New York City in 1800, less than 5% of men had a workplace outside the house; by 1820, it was 25%, and by 1840, it was 70%”. Her book demonstrates how architecture, furniture making, cooking and heating practices, as well as ideas about labour, children and gender, fashioned the home, making a compelling account of what was gained and lost in the quest for cosiness.